WASHINGTON –States like Maryland are attempting to kill traditional marriage with the inclusion of gay marriage amendments to their constitutions on the November ballot, National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown said Tuesday.
“It will be a critical vote,” said Brown. “I don’t think President (Barack) Obama is going to change the vote in Maryland. With proper resources we’re going to win there.” Obama recently announced his support for same-sex marriage.
But many in Maryland disagree and assert it’s unlikely Brown’s group and other opponents of same-sex marriage will acquire these “proper resources.”
“Polls consistently show in Maryland that if the election were held today, marriage equality would win,” said Kevin Nix, spokesman for Marylanders for Marriage Equality. “The momentum has been on the side of those who support marriage for loving, committed gay and lesbian couples all year.”
Nix said supporters are heading into the fall campaign season with the same momentum, helped by the public support from Obama and the NAACP.
Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, sponsored the legislation to put the issue on the ballot. “He’s been very active in the effort- whether it’s attending events, helping to raise money- this is very important to him,” a spokeswoman said.
Despite the governor’s support and the poll findings, Brown said he believes the overwhelmingly Democratic state of Maryland will uphold traditional marriage.
“We’ve seen a massive upwelling of support,” said Brown. “People of no faith have been writing in saying enough is enough — our legislation should not have done this.”
Brown joined other same-sex marriage opponents Tuesday at a Heritage Foundation discussion on the conflict between states’ rights and civil rights. Other panelists included Pentacostal bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., president of the High Impact Leadership Coalition; University of St. Thomas law professor Teresa Collet and William Duncan, director of the Marriage Law Foundation.
Jackson, who also is pastor at Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., questioned whether a homosexual’s desire for equal marriage rights is warranted, saying same-sex marriage is not a civil right, but only a “special right.”
“Where do their constitutional rights to gay marriage come from? I don’t see any,” said Jackson, as he held up a Bible. “They don’t derive from the Bible, they don’t derive from the Constitution and they don’t derive from common sense.”